Dalbergia L.f.

Legumes of the World. Edited by G. Lewis, B. Schrire, B. MacKinder & M. Lock. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (2005)

Vernacular

nambar, palisandro, ebonywood, cocobolo, tulipwood, blackwood, rosewood, kingwood, sisam

Habit

Shrubs, trees and climbing lianas, some species vary in habit from scandent shrubs in dry habitats to robust lianas in humid areas

Ecology

Tropical rain forest to seasonally dry tropical to subtropical humid and dry forest, woodland, bushland, thicket and wooded grassland

Distribution

pantropical, centred in the Old World with 60-70 species in Africa (1 sp., D. ecastaphyllum (L.) Taub., reaches India), 43 spp. in Madagascar, of which 42 are endemic; about 80 species in Asia with 33 species in India (19 endemic), 44 in Indo-China, and eight in New Guinea. Two of the Asian species (D. candenatensis (Dennst.) Prain and D. densa Benth.) reach Australia; c. 60-70 spp. occur in the neotropics with 45-50 spp. in S America (centred in Amazonia) and c. 15-20 spp. in tropical Mexico to C America and the Caribbean

Note

Thothathri (1987) subdivided Dalbergia from the Indian subcontinent into four sections based on androecium and fruit type; Carvalho (1997) treated the Brazilian species in five sections based on inflorescence and fruit types. The combined analyses of Lavin et al. (2001a) place Dalbergia in the Dalbergia clade sister to Machaerium and Aeschynomene subgen. Ochopodium (Fig. 40)

The present circumscription of Dalbergieae sens. lat. contains radical changes to Dalbergieae sensu Polhill (1981d: 233–242). In the first instance it takes a traditional view of the tribe by including genera such as Vatairea and Vataireopsis (now in the Vataireoid clade, see Figs. 1& 40) and Andira and Hymenolobium, which in Wojciechowski et al. (2004) are sister to the combined Dalbergioid clade of Lavin et al. (2001a), plus Amorpheae. The bulk of the treatment, however, recognises the cryptic Dalbergioid clade (Lavin et al., 2001a) as comprising tribe Dalbergieae sens. lat., diagnosed by the synapomorphy of aeschynomenoid root nodules. This clade includes all the genera placed in the Dalbergieae sensu Polhill (1981d: 233– 242), the Aeschynomeneae sensu Rudd (1981) and the Adesmieae sensu Polhill (1981g: 355–356), plus subtribe Bryinae of the Desmodieae sensu Ohashi et al. (1981) as well as the genus Diphysa (tribe Robinieae sensu Polhill & Sousa (1981)).The placements of all members of the Dalbergioid clade within the classification presented here and in those of Polhill (1981d: 233–242; 1981g: 355–356), Polhill & Sousa (1981), Ohashi et al. (1981) and Rudd (1981) are listed in Fig. 40.

Dalbergieae sensu Polhill (1981d) contained 19 genera defined by woody habit, supposedly plesiomorphic flowers, pods with a specialised seed chamber and seeds that accumulated alkaloids. Polhill (1981d) noted that there seemed to be two centres within the Dalbergieae: one around Andira with Hymenolobium, Vatairea, Vataireopsis, Dalbergia, and Machaerium, and one around Pterocarpus. He also highlighted evidence from wood anatomy (Baretta-Kuipers, 1981) which showed that Andira, Hymenolobium, Vatairea, and Vataireopsis have coarser wood structures more typical of members of the Sophoreae than the remaining members of the Dalbergieae. The study of fruit and seedling morphology by Lima (1990) further supported these two centres within the Dalbergieae: one including Andira, Hymenolobium, Vatairea, and Vataireopsis, and the second the remaining genera. Most recently several molecular and morphological studies (e.g., Lavin et al., 2001a; Pennington et al., 2001; Wojciechowski et al., 2004) confirm that these four genera do not belong in the Dalbergioid clade. Since there is, however, still much work to be done to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of these four genera, they have been kept in tribe Dalbergieae sens. lat. in this treatment to avoid tentative placements, which might be treated by users as formal.

The tribe Aeschynomeneae sensu Rudd (1981) contained 25 genera characterised by lomentaceous pods, although some members lack loments (e.g., Arachis, Ormocarpopsis, Diphysa spp., Ormocarpum spp., and Pictetia spp.). None of the Aeschynomeneae had previously been considered closely related to the Dalbergieae, but the work of Lavin et al. (2001a) has resolved all the ‘aeschynomenoid genera’ within the Dalbergioid clade.

The taxonomic history of the monogeneric tribe Adesmieae sensu Polhill (1981g) is very different from that of the Dalbergieae. The Adesmieae combines the presumed plesiomorphic trait of free stamen filaments, with presence of lomentaceous pods that are supposedly derived. This combination of features suggested a taxonomically isolated position far removed from the Dalbergieae. The analyses of Lavin et al. (2001a) based on molecular sequence and morphological data, however, support Adesmia (nested together with five genera of Rudd’s Aeschynomeneae) being sister to the Pterocarpus and Dalbergia clades. The neotropical genera Brya and Cranocarpus were placed together in a new subtribe Bryinae of Desmodieae in the classification of Ohashi et al. (1981). The features common to these genera are periporate pollen and glochidiate hairs or glandular trichomes. In the molecular studies of Doyle et al. (1995) and Bailey et al. (1997), Brya and Cranocarpus did not lack the intron for the chloroplast gene rpl2 nor for the open reading frame ORF184, which are characteristic of the other desmodioid genera studied. Bailey et al. (1997), therefore, suggested that Brya and Cranocarpus should be removed from the Desmodieae. Their findings were strongly corroborated by the three gene analyses of Lavin et al. (2001a) which place the two genera in the Pterocarpus clade (Fig. 40).

One further transfer has been made in the Dalbergioid clade since Rudd (1981) and Polhill & Sousa (1981). Lavin (1987) transferred Diphysa from the Robinieae to tribe Aeschynomeneae based on the absence of canavanine in the seeds, a feature consistently present in the Robinieae (Lavin, 1986). Lavin (1987) also listed 14 morphological characters that placed Diphysa with the Aeschynomeneae rather than the Robinieae. In the phylogenetic analyses of Lavin et al. (2001a), Diphysa is resolved in the Dalbergioid clade nested within the ‘transatlantic clade’ (Fig. 40), first identified by Lavin et al. (2000).

Finally, since 1981 four new genera have been published: the Brazilian monotypic Grazielodendron (Lima, 1983b), the possibly extinct Madagascan endemic Peltiera (Labat & Du Puy, 1997), Zygocarpum, the Horn of Africa – Arabian segregate of Ormocarpum (Thulin & Lavin, 2001) and Maraniona from northern Peru (Hughes et al., 2004). Three genera have also been placed in synonymy since 1981: the Caribbean genus Belairia which is a synonym of Pictetia (Beyra-Matos & Lavin, 1999), and the genera Pachecoa and Arthrocarpum which Thulin (1999) synonymised under Chapmannia. In this treatment 49 genera and (1319) –1325–(1331) species are recognised in Dalbergieae sens. lat. (including 4 basally branching dalbergioid genera comprising c. 58 species, and (1261)–1267– (1273) species in the 45 genera of the Dalbergioid clade [Lavin et al., 2001a]).The following informal groupings of genera are based on the work of Lavin et al. (2001a): Adesmia clade: 6 genera; c. 360 species; neotropical except Zornia, which is pantropical. Pterocarpus clade: 22 genera; c. 200 species centred in the Neotropics, Pterocarpus and Stylosanthes are pantropical, Inocarpus Asian, and Chapmannia transatlantic.Dalbergia clade: 17 genera; c. 706 species which are pantropical, but centred in Africa; Weberbauerella, Soemmeringia, Pictetia and Diphysa are neotropical, Machaerium transatlantic, Dalbergia and Aeschynomene are pantropical, and Geissaspis Asian. Isolated genera: 4 genera; 58 species, neotropical except Andira, which has one amphiatlantic species.

George R. Proctor (2012). Flora of the Cayman Isands (Second Edition). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Morphology General Habit

Trees or shrubs, the branches often scandent or trailing; leaves pinnate with a terminal leaflet or (in Cayman species) 1-foliolate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers white or purplish, in axillary or terminal racemes, cymes or panicles; bracts and bracteoles minute

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx 5-lobed, the lobes unequal, the upper two broader and the lowest one longer than the others; standard ovate or roundish; wings oblong; keel obtuse, its petals united dorsally at the apex

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens 10, the uppermost one more or less free, the sheath split on the upper side, sometimes also on the lower side; anthers small, erect, and paired

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary

Ovary stalked; style short, incurved, with small terminal stigma; ovules few

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Pod roundish to oblong or linear, very compressed and flat, indehiscent, 1–4-seeded; seeds kidney-shaped, compressed.

Distribution

A pantropical genus of more than 100 species.

Timothy M. A. Utteridge and Laura V. S. Jennings (2022). Trees of New Guinea. Kew Publishing. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Distribution

Between 100 and 120 species: tropical and subtropical regions of North and South America, Africa, and Asia; only seven species in New Guinea of which three are arborescent.

Morphology General Habit

Trees, shrubs, or woody climbers, usually with red sap or exudate

Morphology Leaves Stipules

Stipules often small, caducous

Morphology Leaves

Leaves imparipinnate, leaflets alternate, rarely opposite; stipels absent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences terminal or axillary, racemes or panicles, usually many-flowered; bracts and bracteoles usually small, caducous, rarely persistent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers small, white, pale green, or rarely purple; calyx campanulate, 5-toothed; petals clawed, standard petal ovate, oblong, or orbicular, wing petals with base cuneate, truncate, or sagittate, keel petals often boat-shaped, ±united above; stamens 9 or 10, monadelphous, usually united in an open sheath, or diadelphous and then in 2 bundles (5+5), or 9 united and 1 free (9+1), anthers dehiscent by short apical slits; ovary stipitate, few ovuled; style usually incurved, long or short; stigma terminal, small

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit an indehiscent samaroid, thick and wing-like or thickened over the seeds

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds reniform, laterally compressed.

Ecology

The genus has been collected from a variety of lowland habitats, especially coastal vegetation, swamp forests, and mangrove and riverine vegetation from sea level to 100 m.

Recognition

Species of Dalbergia can be identified by the red sap or exudate, the imparipinnate leaves with alternate leaflets, and the indehiscent, laterally compressed, samaroid fruit.

Flora Zambesiaca Leguminosae subfamily Papillionoideae byJ.M. Lock*

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary

Ovary stipitate, few-ovulate; style incurved; stigma small, terminal.

Morphology General Habit

Trees, shrubs or lianes, occasionally spiny. Trees, shrubs or lianes, occasionally spiny.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves imparipinnate, rarely unifoliolate (not in Flora area); leaflets alternate to subopposite; stipules caducous or sometimes subpersistent. Leaves imparipinnate, rarely unifoliolate (not in Flora area); leaflets alternate to subopposite; stipules caducous or sometimes subpersistent.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers white or violet-purple, fragrant, in terminal or axillary and terminal panicles, rarely in cymose racemes; bracts and bracteoles caducous or subpersistent. Flowers white or violet-purple, fragrant, in terminal or axillary and terminal panicles, rarely in cymose racemes; bracts and bracteoles caducous or subpersistent.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx 5-dentate, with upper teeth broader than the lower ones. Calyx 5-dentate, with upper teeth broader than the lower ones.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Petals clawed; standard circular to obovate; wings oblong-obovate; keel petals usually dorsally connate at the apex, sometimes free. Petals clawed; standard circular to obovate; wings oblong-obovate; keel petals usually dorsally connate at the apex, sometimes free.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens connate into a dorsally split sheath, usually the upper one free or absent or stamens in 2 bundles of 5; anthers small, erect, didymous, the thecae dehiscing by an apical slit. Stamens connate into a dorsally split sheath, usually the upper one free or absent or stamens in 2 bundles of 5; anthers small, erect, didymous, the thecae dehiscing by an apical slit.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil

Ovary stipitate, few-ovulate; style incurved; stigma small, terminal.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Pod indehiscent, flat, oblong or linear, ± thickened over the seeds. Pod indehiscent, flat, oblong or linear, ± thickened over the seeds.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seed reniform, compressed; radicle inflexed. Seed reniform, compressed; radicle inflexed.

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit

Trees, free-standing or scandent shrubs or woody lianes, sometimes with branches modified as thorns or climbing aids

Morphology Leaves

Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets usually alternate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Flowers in panicles or more rarely in racemes

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx shortly 5-toothed; lowest lobe usually narrower and the longest, the upper pair usually broader than the others and often more united

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla small, usually white and fragrant; wings free

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens 9 or 10, usually all united into a tube; anthers basifixed with apical dehiscence

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Pod indehiscent, samaroid, 1–few-seeded

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds reniform.

Distribution

Some 270 species, pantropical.